The present invention relates to an apparatus for transporting an individual and for positioning such individual on a toilet in a position which enables use of the toilet by the individual. More particularly, the present invention relates to a cart upon which an individual may be seated for centering the excretory organs of the individual's body over the opening of a toilet and lowering the individual's body onto the seat of the toilet, thereby enabling use of the toilet.
The process of using a toilet is one which most individuals perform with little difficulty, but the process can be much more difficult for handicapped individuals. Handicapped individuals, particularly those who have little use of their legs or arms (such as quadriplegics), must often have assistance when utilizing a toilet. Their difficulties range from inability to initiate the natural excretory process, to difficulties in cleansing their body surface of waste material after defecation, and even to difficulties in remaining seated on the toilet.
Accordingly, a variety of apparatus have been designed for further enabling handicapped individuals to perform such tasks which most people merely take for granted. For instance, Applicant's co-pending application, Ser. No. 052,720, filed May 20, 1987, discloses an automated apparatus adaptable to a commode for cleansing residual wastes from an individual's body surface. The preferred embodiment of that invention seals the private parts of the individual's body in a space common with the excretion chamber of a commode and, once sealed, a variety of fluids are directed onto those private parts for cleaning and drying them without directing the fluids beyond the sealed space. Applicant, however, has discovered that typical handicapped individuals for whom that invention is ideally useful have a critical need to be given further assistance in order to take advantage of the invention----namely, they have the need to properly position themselves on the seat of the toilet. It is, thus, an object of the present invention to enable proper positioning of handicapped individual on the seat of a toilet, such as on the seat of the invention of Applicant's previously mentioned co-pending application as adapted to a commode. Further, it is an object of the present invention to enable sealing of a space in common with the toilet's excretion chamber while also enabling such proper positioning.
In the past, nurses are often necessary in order to transport a bed-ridden handicapped individual to a toilet and in order to subsequently position such handicapped individual on the toilet. Such a nurse is often required regardless of whether the toilet is an ordinary toilet or one such as that of Applicant's previously mentioned co-pending application. Typically, such a nurse must manually carry the individual to the toilet and then place the individual on the toilet seat. Special care must be taken to avoid hazards related to dropping the individual and related to improperly placing the individual on the toilet. The proper placement on the toilet seat can especially be a problem when (as is common) there is little extra space adjacent the toilet, in which extra space the nurse could otherwise maneuver It is a primary object of Applicant's present invention to provide a single apparatus for enabling both transport of an individual's body to a toilet and subsequent proper positioning of that body relative to the toilet.
Several other objectives are advantageous, if not necessary. Most basically, it is an object of the present invention to provide an easily movable carriage for transporting an individual to a toilet and for subsequently enabling positioning of the individual's body in an appropriate position on the seat of the toilet. For practical reasons, such as for minimizing costs and for minimizing the necessary tasks of an assistant, it is a further object of the present invention to provide a body transport which readily enables positioning of the body in an operative position relative to a toilet while minimizing adjustments necessary to effectuate such transport and positioning.
Further, particularly since handicapped individuals are especially vulnerable to injury, it is another object of the present invention to minimize the possibility of injury to a person utilizing or attempting to utilize the present invention.
It is yet another object of the present invention to enable centering of the excretory organs of a transported individual's body relative to the excretion chamber opening of the toilet.
Many other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become evident to those skilled in the art in light of the following descriptions of the present invention. It is toward such objectives that the present invention is also directed.